Napoleon Lajoie was so good
that a team named itself after him for a brief period. Yet, one of the
greatest hitters of the earliest years of baseball never played for a pennant
winner.

Still, he was an amazing
player and for that he is enshrined in baseball's Hall of Fame.

Among his career accomplishments:

He led the league in hits four
times -- 1901, 1904, 1906, 1910

He led the league in doubles
four times.

He won the first American League
triple crown in 1901

He was the top RBI man for three
seasons.

He led the league in batting
average five times, including four consecutive seasons.

He was the American League's
answer to Honus Wagner. Both player were considered to be the dominant
defensive players of their respective leagues.

Lajoie, born in 1875,
made his debut with Philadelphia of the National League in 1896 at the
age of 21. Two years later, he showed the first signs of things to come
when he led the league with 127 RBIs.

The landscape of baseball
changed during the 1901 season as the American League rose to challenge
the National League's dominance. AL officials said they refused to honor
contracts players had with NL franchises. The new league paid more and,
with promises not to have some of the oppressive leadership the NL had
shown, the upstart franchises were able to attract NL stars.

Nap Lajoie was one of the
players to seize the opportunity and, in 1901, he took the field with Connie
Mack's Philadelphia Athletics. The change of leagues paid instant dividends.
Lajoie hit a modern record for batting average of .426 and led the league
in home runs and RBIs to earn its first Triple Crown. He was so dominant,
in fact, that on May 23 of that season he became the first player in baseball
history to be intentionally walked with the bases loaded.

The 1902 season was the equivalent
of an episode of "Law & Order" for Lajoie. His former team, the cross-town
Phillies, saw they had let a star slip away. The NL club went to a judge
in the city and obtained a ruling that Lajoie still belonged to the National
League club and that he should return there. Mack, being the shrewd manager
he was sent Lajoie off to the American League's Cleveland franchise.

The legal wrangling didn't
end for Lajoie with the move to Ohio. If he were to return to Philadelphia,
he would fall under the jurisdiction of the court's ruling. So, Lajoie
steered clear of Cleveland's trips to Philadelphia to play the Athletics
for the entire 1902 season. Despite the off-field circumstances, Lajoie
led the American League in batting average for the second consecutive year.

The effort to keep Lajoie
out of the Phillies' hands ended in 1903. The National League saw itself
on the ropes. The upstart American League had outdrawn the senior circuit
in attendance for the season and a truce was needed. The NL proposed a
single league of 12 teams and the AL said no. The end result was the two
league format still used today. And, the agreement put an end to claims
that AL players still belonged with the NL clubs.

Lajoie was up to form again
that seaons, leading the league with a .344 average. Despite his valiant
efforts, Cleveland finished third, 15 games out of first place. He also
became a star of sorts that season when he and teammate Harry Bay became
part of the first moving picture of baseball.

The 1904 season marked the
fourth consecutive and last time that Nap would lead the league in batting
average. Lajoie in the AL and Honus Wagner in the NL were considered to
be the most dominate infielders of the time in both defense and offense.

After a string of four strong
seasons, Lajoie was limited to just 65 games in 1905. After being spiked
during a game, Lajoie developed blood poisoning and nearly died. That season,
he also served as the team's player-manager and the team was named the
"Naps" in his honor.

After his scare with illness, Lajoie was back to form in 1905 to lead the American League in hits.

The 1910 season marks an
incident that is part of the Ty Cobb legend. Cobb and Lajoie competed throughout
the season for the AL batting title. With the rivalry and the averages
so close, the Chalmers Motor Company offered a car to the winner of the
1910 batting title. The race finished with a controversy.

Cobb was not a favorite of
a large number of players in the game. In the last game of the season,
the St. Louis Browns third baseman allegedly played back and allowed Lajoie
to get to first on seven bunt singles -- an effort to rob Cobb of the title.
The Browns manager was later fired, but Lajoie beat Cobb .383 to .382.
The criteria for the Chalmers Award was changed to go to the "most important
and useful" player in the league. Lajoie also led the league in hits with
227.

The 1913 season marked the
last time that Lajoie hit over .300 and he collected his 3000th hit in
1914.

In 1937, Lajoie joined Tris
Speaker, Cy Young, John McGraw, Connie Mack, George Wright, Morgan Buckley
and Ban Johnson as the second class of inductees into baseball's hall of
fame.